Peace Is a Practice: An Invitation to Breathe Deep and Find a New Rhythm for Life

Many readers may be familiar with Morgan Harper Nichols as an artist and storyteller with a visually arresting Instagram presence. For those who have not yet discovered her as a spiritual guide, Peace Is a Practice: An Invitation to Breathe Deep and Find a New Rhythm for Life is a perfect introduction.

Part self-help book, part memoir, Peace Is a Practice advocates for slowing down and acknowledging what we need, rather than what we is asked of us. Nichols suggests our work should be in pursuit of our own peace more than anything else, largely because we cannot fully function as healthy and happy people without some balance of the anxieties we face in an ever more complicated and distressing world.

The book is well sourced in Nichols’ presentation of different concepts; the Notes section reads like a dissertation in its thorough and developed set of sources. There are times when these acknowledgements back to other research and documents can feel a bit overwhelming, but there is comfort in knowing that Nichols did her homework and is confident enough to share what concepts are hers alone and which come from other people.

Nichols’ writing is strongest, though, when she draws from her own experiences and reveals her epiphanies in her own pursuit of peace as a practice. Because she has worked on herself, she is a reliable source for others looking to learn how to begin their own practice.